ARPG 3-20

> Get the others

“Hm… Yeah, not buying it.” You shake your head, looking at the screen. “I don’t know what the hell this stuff all is, but this isn’t some sort of prophecy.”

“Wh-what?” The Elder turns to you. “That is nonsense! It must be just that something has-”

“Listen.” You interrupt him. “Either you misinterpreted this whole thing, or you’ve been lying to us. Even I can see this is some sort of Ancient bullshit here.”

“Myla, please.” Faera turns to you. “There is no need to be so harsh. There may yet still be some amount of truth to this. There is an image of the amulet that Floria was wearing here as well.”

“Urgh… Don’t tell me you actually believe this guy…” You shake your head again, looking to the deergirl. “Whatever, either way, Floria and Marcus need to see this.”

“I… Yes, you are right about that.” The deergirl nods. “I will go retrieve them.” Saying that, Faera quickly heads back up to go get the others.

Meanwhile, you step closer, looking at the screen. “Hey, you said that you were able to read this before, right?” You ask the Elder.

“Hm? Yes, of course.” He nods to you before looking at the display himself. “It has changed significantly, but there are still symbols that I recognize.”

“Right, well if you really can read it, then start trying to figure out what this nonsense says.” You seriously doubt this is a prophecy of any type, but there’s little doubt that this is something you want deciphered. “Can you do that?”

“I can try, yes.” He nods. “It may take me some time though…”

After a few minutes, Faera returns with Marcus and Floria. The mousegirl still seems fairly injured, but she does seem capable of walking at least. Showing them the display, both of them seem rather unsettled as well.

“There could be some truth to this prophecy that the mice follow.” Faera insists again. “Perhaps it is misunderstood by them, but it would be foolish of us to completely discount it.”

“This is Ancient technology, for certain.” Marcus frowns, looking up at the display. “And Ancient script as well. This does not bode well. There is no good reason why images of you three should appear on something Ancient.” He hesitates for a moment. “I hope it has nothing to do with that one man…”

Floria stays quiet though, looking up at the display with a worried expression. After a few moments, she finally speaks up. “For now… There’s little we can do about this.” She shakes her head before turning to everyone. “We have to focus on what we already know. We have to focus on dealing with the Masked ones that threaten this village. Once we do that, then we will have time to investigate this further.”

“Floria’s right.” Marcus nods. “Elder, I ask that you try to find out what you can about this, but for now, I’ll take my leave. The more training I can accomplish with the mice before the Masked arrive, the better.” The human gives everyone a nod before turning and heading back up, out of the room.

“I would not be of much assistance against the Masked, so I will remain here and do my best to translate this text.” The Elder nods to you. “Perhaps there is something of use here that we may use against the Masked as well…”

“I am staying here as well.” Floria nods to the Elder.

“Whoa, hold on there.” You look to the mousegirl. “And why is that?”

“Well, this is Ancient text, right?” Floria turns to you. “If there’s any chance that I could learn how to read some of it, that would be incredibly helpful. There’s very very few in the world who can read this, right? If nothing else, when we go to the Empire, maybe we could trade anything I learn for something useful.”

“It is a good plan.” Faera nods. “The Empire has many who would desire such knowledge of Ancients.”

“Urgh…” You frown. “I’d rather you just rest and heal up…” You also aren’t confident about leaving her with the Elder, though you don’t voice that.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” The mousegirl gives you a smile. “I’m sure we can set something up down here for me to rest on. And I can get the other mouseboys to tend to me down here as well.”

“Myla.” Faera turns to you. “Perhaps it would benefit us to look around the village more. Perhaps look around outside the village as well?”

“Ah, that reminds me…” The Elder speaks up, hearing Faera’s words. “There are areas of this structure that we do not actively use, and as such, have been left alone for many many years.” He explains. “It is quite large, and might be of use to investigate. Perhaps you could find something else that would help explain this?”

“Wait, you guys haven’t explored this whole ruin?” You turn to him and ask.

“Long, long ago, we did, yes.” He shakes his head. “But that was long before the Masked ones had appeared. If this text has changed, then perhaps something else has as well.” He notes. “Ah, but… if you do, please be careful. There has been no maintenance on the unused sections for years. There may be places where the path may be blocked.”

“Hm… It may be worth investigating…” Faera looks to you. “Perhaps that would be a good use of our time, Myla?”

2 thoughts on “ARPG 3-20”

I like Floria’s idea of learning the text, but I feel like she’s putting herself in a very vulnerable situation. I’m convinced now, someone blew up the ship, then we crash into some village that happens to have Ancient tech, and it’s directly focused on us. Someone definitely planned for this to happen, and all of this stuff we’re discovering, real hard to call it a coincidence. This really looks like a trap now, so let’s be on guard from now. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that Floria can’t be alone without one of us. She’s in a state where she can barely defend herself, and I ain’t having another damn hostage situation.